Talking Sport: Face-saving deal not the English way

BRAZIL have done it, so why don't we? Would it not be better for England to bow out of the running for the 2006 World Cup and avoid humiliation at tomorrow's voting session in Zurich? There are murmurings that the idea has been discussed. So the theory goes, a deal could be stitched up to secure backing for a future England bid and the FA team could be safely out of Switzerland before the result came through.

By Robert Hardman

12:00AM BST 05 Jul 2000

BRAZIL have done it, so why don't we? Would it not be better for England to bow out of the running for the 2006 World Cup and avoid humiliation at tomorrow's voting session in Zurich? There are murmurings that the idea has been discussed. So the theory goes, a deal could be stitched up to secure backing for a future England bid and the FA team could be safely out of Switzerland before the result came through.

And yet, even though England's bid looks decidedly wobbly, I think that we should stand our ground. Brazil have done a deal with South Africa. It means that the Americas will back the Africans tomorrow and the Africans will back Brazil in four years' time when they bid for the 2010 World Cup. Who, though, will want to do a deal with England?

World Cup choices are as much about time zones as continents. The one thing which is certain about the 2006 World Cup is that we will not have to watch any of it in the middle of the night. It will suit Europe's television networks perfectly since the choice is between England, South Africa, Germany and Morocco, all of whom are plus or minus an hour in relation to each other.

It is, therefore, safe to say that the next World Cup will be on a different time zone to suit a different set of international viewers. That leaves England bidding for the 2014 World Cup at the earliest. And does anyone seriously think that any last-minute deal thrashed out by Tony Banks MP on a beermat in the lobby of the Zurich Sheraton in the next 24 hours is going to serve as a binding contract in eight years' time?

Quite apart from that, there would be something decidedly unEnglish about surrendering at the last minute in order to avoid humiliation. What will be thoroughly English, though, are the bitter recriminations, whispering campaigns and slurs which will start seeping out by the end of tomorrow evening.

If there is to be one consolation for Tony Banks, Sir Bobby Charlton et al, it will be if South Africa win instead of Germany. First, Germany have the backing of most of UEFA - the European federations who were so beastly to England during Euro 2000 - and a South African win would be one in the eye to all of them. Second, the disappointment in England will be as nothing compared to that in Germany. Not only are many Germans still smarting over that England win but many people still believe that their bid has a chance.

ANOTHER source of consolation for England is what happens to countries who actually win these gargantuan events. If Sydney had known what it was letting itself in for, many Australians might have cheerfully handed the 2000 Olympic Games to their bid rivals, Peking.

For the last two years, there has been a daily diet of "Potential disaster at Games . . ." stories coming out of Sydney on top of all those embarrassing tales of nepotism and backhanders.

Yesterday produced two more. First came the threat of an Olympic lost luggage epidemic at Sydney airport after the brand new baggage system went bonkers for a second time. On Saturday, 2,000 suitcases went missing and yesterday the machines broke down. Staff are reportedly braced for a meltdown when the sporting world turns up en masse in a couple of months. Imagine the headlines if they lose Steve Redgrave's oar.

Yesterday produced more doom and gloom with the threat of a power crisis. Shell workers in Sydney are threatening industrial action over job losses and it is Shell who produce nearly half the state's fuel and all the supplies for the Olympics. Imagine the headlines if Redgrave's bus conks out en route to the rowing lake.

My personal impressions of Sydney are of a beautiful if slightly precious place with wonderful food and where everything works properly. But every time I read anything about the 2000 Olympics, I suspect that I've got it all wrong and that Sydney is really a shambolic joke run by spivs and morons.